Saturday, May 31, 2008

I've read *glances at sidebar* yeah, that many books since January but Mama needed new books!

First three books are re-prints that for some reason I haven't seen or heard about.

I'm pretty sure I've read The Prince of Midnight but I only remember bits and pieces and it may be that I'm not remembering the right book. I haven't read Seize the Fire or Midsummer Moon. At least, I don't recall ever reading them.

These books were released in - Hey! It shows they aren't supposed to be released until October 2008. Huh. Chapters online shows them as Not Yet Published (I bought them at Chapters) and Amazon has stock but shows the release date as Oct 08 also.

So maybe I've brought some good news to Kinsale fans.

And then I bought:

I haven't read last month's release yet but I have that one in the TBR pile also. The great news is I have a boat load of great books to read when I get my mojo back!

I was over at JMC's and she didn't finish A Hunger Like No Other (which many of us who loved it totally understand). It still remains my favourite book of the series so I'm hoping these last two blow that book out of the water for me. I need something to grab on and not let go!

And of course.

Lover Enshrined. Just so happened Bob and I had to go to Burlington (20 minute highway drive) and hey, I knew the store there had 24 in stock so getting him to stop in was no hardship.

I'm not saying this book is going to be a keeper but thanks to two great reviews by Katie(babs) at Ramblings on Romance and Christine at The Happily Ever After... I couldn't let the series go. The good news is that they both made it clear this book isn't a romance. (Okay, that is totally my interpretation but I need to keep this mantra in my brain to read the book for what it is and not get grumpy because it's scant on romance.)

They gave me enough of a taste of characters like Rhev that I'm willing to slog through the book and pray I come out eager for the next installment. Although I hear it's a year before the next one comes out.

That there would be the silver lining of reading slumps - authors catch up.

For the Canadians out there this weekend you get 20% off your purchases - Nath reported on this already so head on over there for the details as I'm usually wrong about stuff. I was told by the staff that although I bought my books yesterday (Friday) I can bring my receipt in today (Saturday) and they will give me the discount. Since I wasn't leaving without my new pretties I accepted the promise of reimbursement. We'll see if I get that far.

It's 9:45am and I'm still up. I mean, my eyes are open. I'm not overly tired or anything. Just lethargic.

I woke Bob at 6am to take me to breakfast. There is a new restaurant called Cora's here and they opened at 6. Poor guy couldn't believe I was waking him up. Hey, I was lonely and hungry. The food wasn't so great. I learned I don't like crepes. It cost us 35 bucks including the tip so we won't be doing that again soon. I guess it's for people who enjoy fruit with their breakfast. I'm a meat and potatoes girl and fresh strawberry crepes with dollops of whip cream just didn't cut it.

Here, this was our breakfast:

Bob got the french toast while I was more adventuresome. I should mention I hate maple syrup so what you see is what I ate. I told Bob it was missing something but I couldn't figure it out. Bob commented that he was going to have to lock the camera up but hey, I've discovered some of my blog buddies are foodies, so I'm sharing!

Get this, Bob is sleeping in his chair.

I tell ya. All I hear is how you daywalkers are all get up and go but now that I'm here to witness it I have discovered napping is a daywalker trait also!

This is the last time I feel guilty for napping!

All right, if you made it this far you are extremely bored. Go rent a movie or bug someone you love and if that doesn't work, I say take a nap!

Friday, May 30, 2008

I just figured out that June is like, almost now and that Lover Enshrined by Ward might be out in bookstores.

So I went to Chapters website where you can check stock in a 50 km radius of where you live. Every single store has 24 copies except for the store 2 minutes from me! I actually laughed when I saw the results. Tells you how tired I am. I get loopy when I'm tired.

Thankfully C-Rex is still sleeping and can't harm anyone right now.

But then my closet fear is that I'll start Lover Enshrined and end up not finishing it. I swear if that happens I'm not picking up another book for a year. At least in the last hellish slump I still read auto buy authors. This slump is a whole other kind of evil.

My brain is just on overdrive lately so I can't seem to relax. Course if you could see the room I'm sitting in your neat freak side would birth up canaries.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Tonight I was finishing up the AAR ballots for a current mini-poll and wishing that I was reading the over 200 titles that had come up in the polling process. Course, there are just as many titles that come up that I have read so I try and console myself with that thought.

Also, in case you are wondering, I'm saving my Anne Stuart book because I don't know what will be coming out next by her. When she was writing the series I knew another book would be coming out in 6 months. Now that the series is over I don't know when her next book will come out and she seems to keep her next release days close to the chest.

So I'm holding the book just a little too hard and trying to decide what kind of glass I need to make it's emergency case.

Monday, May 26, 2008

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Bob got up this morning and finished painting the pool. I had so many pain meds, sleeping meds, anxiety meds in me that sleeping was not happening when I needed it to. So of course, I was sound asleep when painting time came.

Ah well, I made up for it by taking Cody for a walk (he's been in a very bossy mood this past week and we thought maybe he needed some exercise. He didn't make it to the top of the street before wanting to turn back) and cutting the back yard. The front yard is such a disgrace I didn't bother. I need to get some dirt and rake it around and then seed the sonofabitch like it's the only patch of grass on the planet. Terrible.

I'm too tired to do it now and my back is sore (I guess I will always have back pain once a month now - that is just not fun!)

Here's the pretty part of the job. We're trying to figure out if we can get the tile up tomorrow or the next day. If not we're probably going to wait until sometime in late summer. At least the pool will look clean now.

Doing any kind of outdoor reno is like those warnings you hear about medications.

Don't tile if it's below 10 degrees or above 35 degrees, don't tile if it's going to rain any time in the next 365 days, don't tile in direct or indirect sunlight and keep the area dust free.

Yeah.

So August 14th at 11:34am for one hour is about the window of opportunity for staining, painting, tiling, bricking -

The white whale is now Big Blue. It's only the first coat but what a difference! I have pictures but they are on the other computer downstairs (of course).

The paint fumes alone should have had Bob and I higher than kites but we managed.

Then we picked my Mom up and went to the Christie Antique Show. It's held twice a year and is supposed to be one of the biggest in the area. It was much smaller than I remembered but we figured with gas prices where they are, those with smaller items to sell probably wouldn't bother with the trip.

We were looking for a piece to work as a kitchen island but I'm starting to think I should have one made. Even still, it was a great walk around with lots of fresh air and my Mom has now seen an antique show. She wasn't all that impressed and since there were many items that recalled her childhood she decided she was an antique also. Ah well, my mom likes new things (as do I) but I've seen interesting things done with salvage pieces. I think Bob was looking for something that could be purchased and put in place without any work. I was more realistic but until Bob sees the light I guess I'll be looking at some seriously wonky things.

After that we dropped Mom off and went to pick up the glass tiles.

Phew!

Nap time!

Got up and made up some dinner and then we watched some TV.

I then made the mistake of going to Tim Hortons and buying two chocolate donuts. Bad Cindy.

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Just in case, I wouldn't post something about a book that I don't plan to purchase myself.

After reading Jessica Andersen's interview and then Holly's review of this book I know I have to try the series. My only fear is that I can completely freak myself out with 'end of the world' stuff. May 6/2000 or 2001 - was my wedding anniversay but also the day that was to be the end of the world (learned about it in like '97 while watching an A&E documentary). I had nightmares about once every 3 months that it was 'the day' and how I couldn't get to Bob. Crazy stuff my brain throws at me.

Just don't expect a review as I have about 5 books I need to read before it! And this was totally the way I discovered my auto-buy author Nalini Singh so yeah, I'm ready to purchase this one the minute it comes out.

Entering is simple. All you have to do is post about Nightkeepers and this contest on your website, encouraging your readers to do the same. Then come back and leave the link to your post in the comments section here.

The contest will end Friday, May 29th at 12:00 p.m. PST. So be sure to enter before then. The winners will be announced Saturday, May 30th and your prize will be shipped out on Wednesday, June 3rd.

As a Miami narcotics detective, Leah Daniels never knows how her day will turn out. But she certainly never expected to be strapped to a stone altar, the human sacrifice in an ancient Mayan ritual meant to coax up a demon from the underworld. Or that she’d be saved by a handsome warrior-priest king who claims to recognize her from his visions...

Jaguar Strike wishes he hadn’t made the mistake of reuniting his fellow warrior priests, or broken the law by saving their chosen human sacrifice. Now, he has no choice but to join forces with Leah and invoke dangerous magic in a death-defying race against the end of time.

Don't delay, enter now for your chance to win!!

I'm on my laptop and can't get the cursor to move where I need it to, so, go here for the contest,here for the interview and here for Holly's review.

Friday, May 23, 2008

By Wednesday of next week my brain block should be completely removed (squeeeee!!). Well, until I think of something else that needs to be done.

Here's my white whale:

30 year old concrete pool in our backyard. Bob opened the thing on May 6th and the minute I saw all the dirt and stuff I told him to empty it. The water there in the deep end is from the power washing we've done but we need the pump to be primed to get that out. That will happen tomorrow sometime.

So I've been waiting not so patiently for 3 weeks to paint the pool a turquoise colour AND then tile just the top foot with multi-colour glass tiles. (in the picture you can see it's grimier on the upper part of the walls. I think that's just from the enviroment. Think of those white plastic lawn chairs and how they would get all gucky. That's what it's like with this stuff.

With my brain I've mentally painted and tiled this pool about a thousand times so I'm ever so grateful the weather will be warm enough for us to get this big job out of the way.

Oh, this is a picture of the ladder in the shallow end that needed to be tied because my first day going in and then climbing out the damn thing fell in and about killed me. I landed on the cement edge there with my right wrist but I must have strong bones cause it only twinges now and again when I was sure my hundred and *mumble* pound body should have snapped it in two.

And finally, Bob is taking Monday and Tuesday off from work. So I know I have four days of movement and activity going on. That is enough to have my anxiety ratchet up a notch but then my dear sweet cousin called and she has tomorrow off work so we're meeting here at 1pm to go shopping.

Yep. 1pm.

That would be your 2am.

I won't be taking any sleeping pills today so I might just end up laying down and drifting for a few hours but I think once I'm up and showered I'll be my perky self. For about 4 hours. After that, no guarantees.

So for the next five days I'm going to be up and about in Southern Ontario.

Monday, May 19, 2008

I'll try and take a better video of Amber getting around but here she is finding her way down from her food dish and then down the basement stairs. How cute is she!!

And yes, you can hear Bob in the back ground with the saw running ;)

Edited to Add:

Better lighting to see how Amber finds those pesky stairs. Notice Emma watching and probably wondering what the hell is going on. My ugly kitchen floors and wonderful plywood floors in the hallway are also highlighted and yep, that's Cody poking his head out as Amber makes her way towards the door.

I was told by the vet that animals adjust much better to going blind than losing their sense of smell. Once the sense of smell is gone, it's much harder for the animal to cope.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

1. I loaned my digital camera to my brother on the weekend and I had no idea I would miss it like I do. I've had about 12 instances that I wanted my camera for. I never do anything with the pictures but for some reason I need that damn camera!

2. Amber, our beautiful orange kitty who is now 15 years old (did the math the other day and just about fell over) is completely blind. She sat in a chair for about three weeks but I thought she was just depressed about something. I think it was Bob who noticed her walking into walls. I took her to the vet and her eyes work but she sees nothing. Poor baby. So now we carry her up to bed at night (she always crawls in with us but had stopped probably because she couldn't find the bed), call to her if we see her struggling to get somewhere and tap on stairs to help her figure out elevations. It's now about three weeks since we found out and she's taken the house by storm. No longer afraid to go up and down stairs and growls at us when it's clear she wants to figure out something on her own. (seriously, she got annoyed with me when I tapped on the stairs near her food dish to let her know where they were. Nope, she wanted to reach down with her toes stretched out until she could find the step herself.)

3. Cody is still kicking ass and taking names. His back legs aren't as quick to follow his lead so I think the tumour is progressing. Biscuits seem to be manna from Heaven.

4. I have to take long haired Emma to the vet and have her shaved down in a lion cut. I'm sure the litter box will be sparkling clean for a week while she demonstrates her displeasure. Edited: I wussed out and am now shaving her myself in sections (they were going to put her under for the shaving and at her age I wasn't loving the idea). Bob has promised to help. Sorry, but 300 bucks for a lion cut was not burning a hole in my pocket. She just gets so feisty and the clippers don't go through her hair easily. Ah, well. I did shave her belly the other night by myself. She fought me but the next morning it was like I was catnip to her. I guess she went to clean herself and realized she could actually contact her skin.

5. I'm wondering if hypnotherapy would work for me. Yep. I watched Oprah but I don't think I'm easily susceptible to hypnosis. Still, being panic free forever would be worth trying.

Okay, for those of you not in the know, up here in Can-eh-da we have a long weekend in May that we (and maybe it's just us Ontarians) call the May Two Four weekend.

And just in case, (cause I'm no beer drinker) beer is packed in 24 - so the long weekend is kind of synonymous with partying and camping and well, stuff that makes most mothers curl in a ball and pray for it all to be over and that all their kids get home safe.

For me, it's more about the start of summer and pool season and maybe some gardening.

Right, you've met me.

For Bob it's about gardening. I'm way too lazy and have killed too many beautiful green things to pass as a gardener.

Two Four also coincidentally refers to the date the weekend falls on.

*okay, I should know why we have a holiday in May - somebody's birthday I'm sure but really, when you were a kid you didn't care cause Dude, long weekend and now that I'm an adult, well, Dude it's a long weekend.*

Why am I regaling you with this wonderful knowledge?

This weekend turns out to be the May Two Four long weekend. I've known it's this weekend for some time now and I have planned the painting and tiling of the pool accordingly and trust me, it's a harrowing job! Tonight I was beside myself because it was calling for rain for the next week and then the temperatures at night are below 10 degrees celcius which means the pool can't be worked on. No painting, no tiling AND futhermore, we have to wait 7 days after painting the pool to fill it again. (Curing process or whatever). How in the world would we get this pool done by June!!

Have you done the math?

Yeah.

Bob got me to settle down when he realized I had no clue that May Two Four weekend was actually a week earlier this year.

You know, May One Seven.

I swear the world is out to kill me.

So I don't get to paint the pool or put pretty tile up until possibly next weekend which actually falls on May 24th (thank God!) and then I'll have to wait 7 more days to fill the darn thing.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Bob has to go away for business from Wednesday to Friday (late) or Saturday.

I know.

I'm wondering what kind of damage I can do while he's gone too!

Well, there is the pool thing. The old paint is peeling in places and needs to be scraped off. I might start that later today. And I mean later cause I'm writing this before heading to bed. Then the pool needs to be power washed with TSP cause I want to do this right. Huh. That might cut into paint time on Thursday (Wednesday is calling for rain and I'm not going to be out cleaning the pool while it pours on me - okay, I need to think positive thoughts and maybe it will only rain for a few hours and then WOOHOO the sun. There, all better) And then I will paint.

Unless I stumble upon that one thing that makes my head explode.

Then it will still be here waiting for Bob.

The other evil plan of mine is to tear up the remaining carpet in the house. I'm not entirely convinced that Emma isn't showing her mean side when I'm not home and then there is the stuff from Cody's wound. Basically, the stuff needs to leave. I have to leave the carpet on the stairs so Cody can get up and down without falling but other than that, it's outta here! At least I know that there is hardwood under the carpet.

Not like my hubby who tore up perfectly good hardwood in the hallway and left me with plywood.

Right. Already mentioned that.

Also, because Bob will have the work computer with him I won't be working the next three nights. Look out blog world here I come!

You'll probably see more of me because I will need many breaks. Being lazy does have a price - huffing and puffing while doing basic stuff. Ugh.

Finally, on the reading front, I really just want to bust out my Anne Stuart but I don't want to reward myself for nothing. I have a book half read, a book that I didn't finish and a few others that I have glanced through.

The only good news about a slump is that I have more time to kill - uh, I mean, do chores and other such rot.

Yeah. You know, accomplish stuff.

Or in my case, fail miserably with a half torn up carpet, a pool that is only half scraped, maybe TSP'd and not a stitch of paint to be found.

Thursday, May 08, 2008

The past few weeks have been so busy and yet, I'm behind in everything!

The biggest thing on my plate now is the pool. Bob opened it on Tuesday (we celebrated 13 years married!) and I took one look and said 'drain it'. Bob was thrilled. I've fought draining the pool and doing work on it because I hate losing swimming time but OMG, it's a disgrace!

I'll take before and after pictures of it as we go. Basically it's a huge ass concrete pool that is 30 years old and painted white. The white shows everything and the top portion of the pool has a grey hue as it's exposed to the elements. So it looks filthy and tardy.

We've drained it, we'll power wash and prep the surface and paint the pool blue. Tonight we went to look at glass tiles (similar to picture) to put around the top edge of the pool. It will be fairly easy to do but it's expensive. I just want the pool to look as welcoming as our old pool used to. I was just glad we had a pool when we moved in but now it's time to work on it.

So I have to keep Bob on target as I want the pool open again by the first weekend in June. Bob has so many projects on the go that I have given up even trying to keep the house clean. Not a good idea but even when I clean the room has no baseboard or maybe no carpet or cabinets have been ripped out and now the flooring is wrong. OH! He tore up perfectly good flooring in our downstairs hall because he didn't like it. So now our hallway is just plain plywood and uh, you need money to put new stuff down! So even when I clean I don't feel like I've accomplished anything.

I've never been embarrassed to have people in my home but I can honestly say that I think most of our friends would be shocked at the state of our house and I'm now officially embarrassed. There isn't a room in the house that is up to snuff or finished!

Then I have a dog with an open wound that's oozing constantly which means carpet (that will be torn up eventually) is covered in blood spots or something. Even animal lovers are having a hard time looking at Cody which might be a sign and yet, that puppy will run around the back yard like his tail is on fire. Crazy dog. I'm thinking he'll outlast me at this point.

Also, the past few weeks have ratcheted up my anxiety to where I have started to notice I'm not breathing properly. Huge problem when you have anxiety. I now catch myself hourly holding my breath or breathing way too shallow. The holding my breath thing is crazy and I've only started to notice it again recently. Normally I only do that when I'm in pain but the past two weeks I've been holding my breath like I'm waiting for the final shoe to drop. Weird. But obviously I need to do some retraining of the brain and start my breathing exercises again. (I'm naturally a chest breather - short and shallow breathing doesn't regulate the oxygen supply well enough. Have to breath into the stomach to keep centered and all that. May sound hokey but it works like gangbusters and that's what is important)

Stupid brain.

The book I am currently reading and quite enjoying is If You Dare by Kresley Cole. The book started with the horrid 'I hate you' type of relationship but it's starting to change. I'm interested in seeing where Cole will take it as I enjoyed her first two paranormals. I have the other two in the TBR pile.

My only problem is I'm having a heck of a time finding time to read. I'm hoping after this weekend (which is jam packed with way too much action) things will calm back down and I'll get a week to myself where all I have to worry about is sleep, food and reading.